SCHOOL HOUSE CANADA

The Five Pillars of Instruction

Independent Learning

The Five Pillars of Instruction

How to Promote Independent Learning

When introducing a new topic, the students are provided with the information, directions, and steps needed to learn the skill or concepts required, without the teacher directing or facilitating the learning activity.
The students are presented with the required information in written form. The information is offered in small and incremental amounts. If the student reaches an impasse and has exhausted his strategies to get unstuck, the teacher, at this point, will intervene so the student does not become frustrated. 

There are several ways that learner training can be woven into their activities to promote more independence and help all students along the learning continuum.

Here are ten ways in which teachers can assist with this process and promote lifelong learning skills.

• 1.  Give Choices
  Teachers can provide activities for students with the opportunity to make choices. This encourages them to reflect on their interests and preferences. It will also make them start to take responsibility for learning. 

• 2.  Encourage Group Work
  Group work provides an opportunity to learn from each other actively. In addition, it temporarily takes the control away from the teacher and gives it to the learners, thus encouraging independence.

• 3.  Encourage Learners to Predict How Well They Did on Tests
  Before or after doing a test, students are encouraged to predict how well they will do or how well they did. This exercise makes them reflect on the progress they are making. The reflective aspects of this process also help the students make an appropriate learning plan and help them see that they are responsible for their learning.

• 4. Use Authentic Learning Materials
  Authentic learning materials are items not originally designed for learning purposes. They include items such as newspaper or magazine articles, TV and radio recordings, and so on. These materials can be motivating as they connect the classroom with the outside world and make the students see that learning does not take place only in a classroom. School House Canada encourages students to bring in their authentic materials to contribute to classroom activities to make them more meaningful.

• 5. Involve Learners in Lesson Planning
  School House Canada provides opportunities for students to develop lessons and activities regularly. This ensures that the lesson is interesting and relevant for them. In addition, it involves the students in the learning process and allows them to reflect on their needs.

• 6. Encourage Learners to Keep Learner Diaries 
  These diaries can form a dialogue between the teacher and the learners, which is mutually beneficial. It is an opportunity for teachers to see which areas students find interesting and where they might be having problems, and it is also a vehicle for students to reflect and write (or draw) honest comments about their learning. 

• 7. Build Reflection and Extension into Activities 
  Traditional classroom activities often require students to examine a text to answer factual, closed questions. 

• 8  Encourage Self and Peer-editing 
  Before students hand in their work for marking, teachers could encourage them to check it carefully with a friend. Teachers could help them make an editing checklist that encourages students to check for errors that they frequently make. 

• 9. Provide Activities that Require Higher Thinking Skills
  Students must complete “gateway assignments.” This encourages them to demonstrate their learning successes in a meaningful way by producing actual work that relates to the real world of the student—an essay, a lab report, a presentation, a portfolio, a drawing, a song, or some other demonstration of competency.  Gateway activities give students the chance to go deeper into their learning. It also gives them opportunities for ownership of their studies and their activities. They can challenge themselves, activate their minds, and get to know their content more deeply. 

• 10. Set Learning Goals 
  With the teacher’s help, the student should set learning goals. Goal setting is a worthwhile exercise that encourages students to reflect and self-evaluate. The learning goals should be visited regularly and reassessed.